ROBERT FRIPP IS widely hailed as the king of progressive rock guitar - but he squirms visibly under that crown. In 2014, asked by Classic Rock if he's always taken issue with King Crimson's "prog” label, he made his feelings blatantly clear: "Yes, it's a prison," he said. "If you walk on stage and you're playing music, fine. But if you're walking on stage and you're playing progressive rock - death."
In a way, that discomfort makes sense. As King Crimson's key guiding force - and lone consistent member - since their debut LP, 1969's In the Court of the Crimson King, Fripp has typically veered away from popular tropes and trends. Across 13 studio albums (along with a smattering of EPs and live records), he's evolved from the band's early pseudo-symphonic style to infuse the avant-garde, classical, borderline jazz-fusion, free improvisation, heavy metal, New Wave, industrial and multi-drummer mayhem. No style has ever been off-limits, and every Crimson era is an island unto itself.
You can attribute much of that range to Fripp's vision as a bandleader: No other rock musician is more willing to call it quits, embark on an extended hiatus and start from scratch with a new lineup. (And few have recruited so well for a particular artistic aim; it's hard to imagine King Crimson's sleeker Eighties revamp without the two American recruits, singer-guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Tony Levin.) After all, Crimson have never been a guitar-first band - it's almost always been about ensemble composition, using the unique tools of the musicians in his company.
This story is from the April 2022 edition of Guitar World.
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This story is from the April 2022 edition of Guitar World.
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